The Beginning of It All

[Aela Talith]

They had thrusters, but no hyperdrive. If they got out of the mists they could be safe, they could contact someone. Aela knew that, it was basics. She frowned and looked down at Micah.

“Unless?” She trailed off and waited for him to say something.

There was a look in his eye, something that told of a more serious nature, something that told he knew what he wanted to do. It oddly reminded her of father, the way that he looked when he wanted the children to do something, or if he was about to say something out of character. For some odd reason it made her uneasy, seeing that look on Micah's face.

Her eyes briefly flashed away from him and turned towards the mists again, her teeth sinking into her lips as she thought about what they should do next.

Perhaps Micah's thought would be the best option.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah's sigh was audible; she was not going to like this. Not like it at all.

"Remember when Mara taught us all instinctive astrogation?" he began, recalling a time a few years ago when the Shortstack of Merrill spawn taught them all how to use the Force to instinctively plot coordinates onto their probes. A few got the knack of it, like he and kai, others not so much. But it was also when Miach's strength in tracking and using the Force in such an endeavour worked out.

"We could do the same now." he told her, aware that this was more than finding coordinates for a probe. More than guiding a small starfighter for blind jumps. Neither were Mara, where her skills lay in the hyperlanes much like her father.

"Together."

That was likely the one part that would really rock Aela. That Micah would admit that he couldn't be able to do it alone.

 

[Aela Talith]

Her lips immediately thinned and she looked away.

For a moment her nerves showed, hairs stood up on edge, and she bit her lip hard. There was an embarrassing fact about that time, one that no one knew, one that Micah and Kaili hadn't been privy to, one that none of them had actually known.

She looked at her little brother for a few seconds, her hands nervously tapping against the side of the chair. Aela looked to Felix, then back to Micah, then out the window. “I...I can't.”

Her voice was filled with disappointment.

“I didn't actually manage to do it.” Aela said quietly. “I cheated.”

Of course she had never really lied about it. She hadn't told anyone where she had found her coordinates, or if she had managed to achieve what the others had. She had simply never mentioned it at all. “I took the coordinates from an old book. I just couldn't do it.”

Shame ran through her.

 

[Micah Talith]

It was strange, seeing Aela's body shift into a state of uneasiness, anxiety, and finally shame. He was confused, perplexed, and then agape. Wait, what?

"You took the coordinates... from a book?" he would blink at her, straightening to his full height in front of the terminal he'd been reviewing data from. He would turn to her, giving her his full attention, reading her much like their mother did in her native tongue. For once, there was an expression of stunned dismay on his features directed at his elder sister's direction.

"...So.. you can't actually use instinctive astrogation? With the Force?" he would query, astonishment in his voice. This coming from his elder sister, who was supposedly good at everything.

Well then, this was kicking up a notch their predicament. He couldn't do this by himself! Even he wasn't that crazy. Stunned, he would flop himself onto a nearby chair, a bit dazed.

"Well I can't do it just by myself!"

 

[Aela Talith]

The ship continued to drift through the mist, it moved slowly, almost unnoticed. A few bright sparks of Ion energy would jump and bound around the ship, striking the mists themselves but never the vessel. Over and over it would hump and bound, surrounding the Rising Tide in an oddly beautiful display that was missed by both the Talith siblings.

Aela simply frowned.

She had never thought it would come up again. The Rising Tide was AI assisted and along with Felix it seemed unlikely that she would ever have to do it again, especially since Mara was usually found on the ship as well. Her lips thinned again, and she tasted a small hint of blood in her mouth as she bit down too hard.

“Sorry.” It was barely a whisper, but it was a genuine apology. What else could they do now? Float through the mists? Keep pressing through. Her eyes cast down towards the floor, her feet shifting uneasily as she tried to think of another idea.

Could she just feed him her power?

Would that work?

 

[Micah Talith]

He gave a grown, frustration apparent as he would rub his face with his hands. His mind was racing. What other options did they have? If he attempted to do this by himself, he would burn himself out. If that happened in the middle of the mists...

They was no going back. Or forward.

A sigh would fall out with an exhale. Truth be told, that wasn't her fault. With how she was at keeping things in, really, it wasn't much of a surprise that she'd keep that little known inability to herself. It just meant that they were going to have to think of another way.

Drawing his palms from his face, he would glance back up at Aela. Again, he was struck by the sudden diminutive aura she was emanating now. This was a side to Aela he had not seen before.

It made him uneasy. She was always so sure of herself, confident to the point of annoyance with that edge of mothering she was wont to show.

"We'll figure something out... I just know I'll burn out if I do it by myself. We don't know how far in deep we are nor how long it will take for us to cross through. It will take all my focus alone to attempt to chart a path in normal conditions much the less in Transitory mists."

 

[Aela Talith]

She let out a sigh, trying to remember lessons that their parents had taught them. Aela searched her memories, looking for power, strength, an idea that might be there somewhere. Her eyes shifted, looking to Felix, then to Micah, then to the viewport. There was something, she knew there was something, there had to be.

Transferring power.

It had to be possible, right? Her thoughts shifted away from transferring the power, and instead allowing the control of strength, the flow of the force. That was it, wasn't it? Could she allow Micah to control her own strength in the force?

They were both strong, powerful.

Yes.

It should be entirely possible. A mind meld? Was that what it was called. Her lips thinned even more as she remembered what exactly that would mean, yet as her gaze fell outside of the window she knew that it was the only option that they had left. Aela wasn't ready to die yet, and if that that meant sharing what few secrets she had, then she would do it.

“I know what we have to do.” Some confidence returned to her voice, though it was only a small hint.

 

[Micah Talith]

Well that was more the Aela he was used to. The confidence was back in her voice, her back straighter. He would arch a bushy brow, staring at her quizzingly.

"And what is that?" although, with how serious their situation was, it was likely not a plan he would be so keen on. Yet they were in another kettle of Giju, and their options were few and far between. Considering Aela had taken the time to listen to his suggestion, he could only do the same to her.

A gesture would encourage her to continue, leaning forward to tent his fingers over his knees in a vee.

 

[Aela Talith]

Well, this would be...odd.

“It's a way to form our powers together.” Aela said, wanting to point out that was the most important aspect of this. It would allow Micah to control her strength, and then use it in order to guide them through the mists. It would let them survive. “But...”

She trailed off, trying to remember what her mother had told her about this technique. “There's some side effects. We'll essentially be merging our minds...so...we...well...”

Aela tried to go on, but she turned slightly red. They were siblings, but she knew that they both had secrets, both had thoughts, ideas, memories that they didn't really want to share with one another. She remembered what Mother had told her about father and hers adventure into this.

It had been...different, according to Mother.

 

[Micah Talith]

He froze. Micah would stare at Aela with deliberate scrutiny, that mirror gaze locking into her own. His frown would deepen, furrowing three lines over his forehead. What she was describing was familiar as it was strange. Kharyi and he shared a bond that went beyond siblings; they were twins after all. Their bonds were close, and because of that, he was able to track and understand what made her tick better than the other two, although the closeness of Nohei's and his relationship made for a similar bond.

He never had that with Aela, though. They were just too different. In personality, in tastes, in interests. He stopped being the nosy brother at eleven; gone was his incessant desire to figure out why Aela was how she was. Why she spent so much time in her room. Why she found so much interests in her books.

Crina changed that.

He would give her a perplexed scowl, "You mean like with Kharyi and me?" he asked, probing her for more information. If it was like that, okay, perhaps that could work.

Unfortunate that Micah didn't quite understand the depth and breadth of the risk Aela was suggesting. The enhanced power brought by Force Meld worked both ways: while the entity could influence a large number of minds with much more power, a great disturbance in the Force could overwhelm the melding participants as they received the pain through their enhanced senses. If the pain was caused by the minds the melding participants were touching, it would bring devastating effects to the participants, sometimes to such a degree that the participants would lose control of their own minds and become ignorant to other threats.

The majority of light side meld participants could prevent a single participant from slipping to the dark side. However, if the meld participants were divided in thoughts and could not focus to a common objective, the meld would become a liability rather than an asset.

And if there were any two individuals who were consistent with their inability to focus on a common objective, the two Talith siblings were posterchildren for it.

 

[Aela Talith]

“No.” Aela said. “Well, not quite.”

It was kind of like that, but it was different, more complex. “It's more dangerous, Draith. We would have to focus, communicate, work as one. If we don't...we could die, or worse.”

Worse didn't need to be defined. It was obvious what worse might mean for the two of them. They had both been instructed on the darkside, what it did, how it could effect them and how it had effected members of their family. She frowned slightly, clearly showing that she was weary of this tactic.

It was however, the only solution that she could think of.

“It's a melding of our thoughts, our power, our memories.” She went on and explained everything else. “It will let us do what you want, it will let you guide my power, and even double our combined strength, but...its dangerous.”

She reiterated that again.

The danger was a real threat here. Aela wasn't sure if their parents would approve of this tactic, even with their current predicament.

 

[Micah Talith]

His eyes kept growing wider by the second as Aela would explain the full extent and the seriousness of what she was suggesting. Granted, the teenager in him was not too keen on having his sister in his head, but the whole dying aspect was the cherry on the proverbial cake.

That was more of a crazed suggestion most of the Brat Pack and his parents would likely think to come out of Micah's mouth rather than Aela's -- and that's saying something.

Micah was quiet. With his body leaning forward as he was, fingertips touching, half naked with mars of a few scars here and there, blood smeared across his temple, he would appear more of a young man than a child. The tips of his fingers would lightly rap as he considered.

"I guess you can't come up with another more fun and less potentially destructive method of going through these mists, huh?" he said, heaving a sigh.

Nek take it.

"It's not too late to change your mind. I doubt you want to go deep into my fantasies, Esmae." He'd say with a wryness that really didn't meet his eyes.

This was serious. This was their lives on the line.

And Micah was the only one crazy enough in their family to actually go along with it.

 

[Aela Talith]

She frowned, then remained silent.

A minute passed, another, then five more. It seemed that she was silent for an age. Aela tried to think of another solution, tried to think of something they could do, tried to think of a way to get out of this. The Transitory Mists were dangerous, they could only float for so long, something would eventually happen to them, a storm, an asteroid, anything.

They had enough supplies for months, but...they didn't have the time.

They had to get back eventually, they had to get back to their parents, their friends, The Covenant.

This was the only solution that Aela could think of, the only thing that she knew would get them out of it. All they had to do was focus, all they had to do was try their best. She frowned slightly, looking to her little brother with thin lips.

“It's the only thing I can think of.” Ten minutes of silenced had passed. “We have to do it.”

 

[Micah Talith]

Well you had to give it Micah. Much like his mother, he was apt to jump in with both feet without looking once a decision was made. And this was it. Brows rising to hide among his shaggy mop of brown hair, he unlinked his fingers and would gesture to Aela to the space right in front of him.

"Welp... you're the one who knows how this go." he told her, not quite aware that for Aela this was a new uncharted path for her. Then again, there were many things Micah would expect Aela to have already accomplish and conquer. Discovering that she had her weaknesses and flaws was not something that would come to the fore of his mind.

"Just how do we start this off?"

 

[Aela Talith]

She let out a sigh, then looked at the viewport. The first thing they had to do was remove themselves from distractions. That meant away from the viewports, away from noise, and away from Felix and his constant chattering about hyperlanes. She frowned slightly, then looked down at her little brother. Slowly she stood, stretching herself to her full height of six feet.

“We need to go some place quiet. Away from distractions.” That was important, they needed focus. “We'll go to the hangar.”

Without the rest of the Covenant working on their ships and living on the Rising Tide right now it would be quiet there. Sure there would be ships, but it would be dark and mostly quiet, which is what they needed the most. “Felix. Keep the ship on course...avoid any pockets of ionization that you can.”

It was really all the droid could do right now, all that could happen now without a proper course.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah rose to his feet, looking at Aela. She was still taller than him, all but an inch, but for a brief moment, he felt he dwarfed her. Perhaps it was due to the lingering sensation of her doubt. He shook that from his mind, and instead gave a nod.

"Hanger it is." he said, adding over to Felix, "Record as much as you can with the sensors... any data you can pick up." They may be floating in Transitionary Mists, but what bit of information and data they could get meant odds would minutely grow in their favor in case they would need it later.

He would turn, legs taking him out of the bridge and into the corridor. The Rising Tide had some length to her, but reaching the Hanger wouldn't be too much of a problem. He would take the route by muscle memory, his mind elsewhere, at what Aela had said about what this would do. A melding of thoughts, powers, and memories.

Uneasiness would rise from his belly. Am I really this crazy?

He would glance over at Aela. Took note of her slender build like their mother, with orange eyes like his own, and delicate features.

Yeah. Yeah, I am.

 

[Aela Talith]

She followed him, or rather, she moved by his side.

Both of them had been living on the Rising Tide long enough that they could navigate the ship completely and utterly blind. Aela however had her eyes open. Her mind was focused, honed, pressed on the task at hand. Every step was calculated, every move she made was thought about.

It was the only thing she could do. She had to force her body to press forward, to move along the halls of the ships and shift her way towards the hangar bay. She knew what this meant, she knew what was about to happen.

It scared her.

Aela frowned slightly, shifting as they found the door. She placed her palm on the sensor, the heavy durasteel falling away into the walls. She glanced at her brother, then looked into the hangar. “There, between the ships should do fine.”

Quickly she moved towards the end of the hangar, falling down into a graceful legs crossed position.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah mimicked Aela, dropping into a crossed legged position in front of her. Well, at least he figured he had to. This was how he normally went off to meditate by himself, when he was taking his time to search through the web of the Force to try and find someone without actually seeing them face to face to begin with.

It kinda reminded him about the first time Aela had been allowed to leave the island on her own. She'd gone on to visit one of the neighboring island for a day trip, leaving Maleah, Kai, and him behind. While his other two sisters and his mother had some fun together, he had taken it upon himself to practice up on the deck. There, with Khal keeping watch, Micah had begun his first excursion into enhancing his abilities to track and search for his sister through the Force.

It had been a work in progress, but that mild success had ushered him in towards the specialized focus he had today. It was always an ongoing skill to perfect; every day was a new opportunity to push the envelope so to speak.

Only this time this was more like pushing the entire paper factory...

He gave her an expectant look, fingers thrumming on top of his knees.

"So what do I have to do?" he finally asked.

 

[Aela Talith]

She let out a deep breath.

Her hands folded outward, creating flat palms.

“Take my hands.” Her voice was steady, calm, but it was a lie. She wasn't at all calm, she wasn't at all prepared for this. She knew exactly what they had to do, how they had to do it, but...she wasn't ready for it. Micah would have to take control, and she would have to let him. It would be something entirely new to her, something that she had never done before.

Her lips thinned, and as she waited for him to do as she said she looked deep inside of herself.

Aela's eyes closed, lids hiding bright orange suns. She looked inward, striking against that small barrier that held the force. The well within her opened up, and a small trickling river of the force began to pour throughout her. She focused, her eyes opening once again to look at her little brother.

 

[Micah Talith]

I have a really bad feeling about this, Micah would muse, reaching out to curl his much larger hands over Esmae's own. Funny, the differences between them weren't as stark as they were then. He would keep his gaze upon her delicate features, feeling the tiny tremble of her fingers. It was subtle, anyone would miss it.

Not him.

Blunt fingers would curl tighter; silent reassurance. Strength. Comfort. Micah might be the joker, the prankster, the one seemingly without regard to the risks and chances he was taking. But he was, very much so. He was also sensitive to the nerve wracking state of being Esmae was right now. Her voice may be steady, but it was perched upon a foundation of what he was discovering to be a feigned serenity.

This was eerie to him. Here, having her in front of him so, where he could really look at her. Really, see her.

If this worked, then he would learn far more than he ever expected; and he wasn't sure how comfortable he was about that. They always had their differences, especially the past four years.

This meant opening a door he wasn't certain he had enough jokes to laugh the tension through.

A deep exhale came from his lips, pouring out from his lungs, his shoulders relaxing. Lids would shut the burnished amber of his eyes, feeling the Force surge within his sister, and in tandem so too did it within himself.

Whatever happens now, they were in it together.

The gentle clench of his hands over hers said that.